County snags $11M for road work in Lynnwood, Mill Creek

Snohomish County is receiving federal grants and other funding for a variety of construction projects in 2013.

Work to widen and repave busy roads on the outskirts of Lynnwood and Mill Creek should be under way by next year, thanks to Snohomish County's efforts to land millions of dollars in federal grants.One project on track to begin over the summer is adding sidewalks, bike lanes and turn lanes to 52nd Avenue W., north of Lynnwood city limits. Similar improvements are expected to begin later in 2013 on North Road, which travels by Lynnwood High School. Federal dollars also promise to resurface well-worn 164th Street east of I-5."I would say we did well in this funding round," said Doug McCormick, a Snohomish County Public Works planning manager. "The previous years have been pretty lean."This year, the county snagged more than $11 million in federal grants for improving traffic congestion and air quality. All told, Snohomish County communities are in line to receive about $31 million, after adding in the cities and other branches of local government due to receive transportation funding. The Puget Sound Regional Council awarded the grants.The work along 52nd Avenue W. will continue the same type of upgrades completed on a more northern section of the road in 2008. The upcoming phase will begin at 148th Street SW and continue south to just below 164th Street SW. It's set to get $5.5 million worth of the federal dollars."It's a project we've had designed for a number of years," county engineer Owen Carter said.Another $3.2 million is headed toward North Road, where the county plans to install continuous sidewalks, bike lanes and a center turn lane. That work extends for about 1.8 miles, from 164th Street SW south to Filbert Road, also is known as Highway 524. Crews plan to tackle drainage and wetland-protection projects on that stretch, too.Nearly $900,000 of the grant money is helping the county buy right-of-way along Seattle Hill Road between 35th Avenue SE and 132nd Street SE. At some future time, the county plans to perform widening work there, though no date's been set.North Creek Regional Trail is set to receive about $550,000 for design work. Portions of the bike and pedestrian trail between Bothell and McCollum Pioneer Park in south Everett are complete. When fully in place, the trail will link trail systems in Snohomish and King counties, allowing people to pedal from Everett to Redmond and beyond with minimal use of the highway system.Paving 164th east of I-5 stands to get $676,000.Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.

Share your comments: Log in using your HeraldNet account or your Facebook, Twitter or Disqus profile. Comments that violate the rules are subject to removal. Please see our terms of use. Please note that you must verify your email address for your comments to appear.